Several more days passed.
The weather grew hotter and hotter, while the streets remained as deserted as ever.
Konoha was as peaceful as always.
The only fortunate thing was that the female ninjas occasionally passing through the streets dressed more and more lightly as the weather warmed. Their healthy figures, sculpted through training since childhood, made it easy even for ordinary people to pick them out from a crowd.
Now, with every trade withering and the pleasure district closed for nearly half a year, the ninjas' pale thighs had become a uniquely beautiful sight in the eyes of idle old men sitting by the roadside.
It was just that today, they had picked a rather unfortunate time.
"Tch."
Hearing the distinctly unladylike click of a tongue beside them, several middle-aged men gathered outside a teahouse, playing cards while ogling thighs, instinctively looked toward the sound.
They happened to catch sight of the Uchiha Police Force armband on the girl's shoulder.
Her scarlet Sharingan swept over them, and the Yin Release Chakra deep in her eyes instinctively radiated an intense spiritual pressure.
Even without actively using any technique, that passive sense of oppression immediately made their asses clench.
Their bodies stiffened for only an instant, but the old men who had just been leering and sneaking glances outside immediately threw down their cards and scrambled into the teahouse.
Ninjas and ordinary people were two different species.
Uchiha Yayoi withdrew her gaze, the scarlet in her eyes silently fading back to black. As if afraid of angering the person beside her, she cautiously glanced at Mizu, who was reading with his head lowered.
"Good job."
Unexpectedly, Sahara Mizu merely smiled indifferently and inexplicably praised her.
"No, I, I mean... huh?"
Caught in her little act, Uchiha Yayoi instinctively tried to explain herself. But after processing what he had said, her voice suddenly rose into an adorably questioning lilt.
"What?" Sahara Mizu continued looking at the scroll in his hands, his tone perfectly matter-of-fact, openly acting like a petty jealous man. "I don't like other people looking at you either."
"Also, your shorts are a little too short today. This mole is showing."
As he spoke, he turned slightly and tapped the outside of Miss Yayoi's left leg with his fingertip.
There was a very small round mole there.
"Mmph."
The boy's slightly rough fingertip brushed against the girl's pale, sensitive skin, making it a little itchy.
A rosy blush immediately spread over Uchiha Yayoi's face, and she stood there awkwardly without saying a word.
Perhaps she was embarrassed by Sahara Mizu's overt possessiveness. Perhaps she did not dare admit that she had spent a long time before leaving home deliberately choosing this tight outfit to "seduce" him. Or perhaps his direct touch had simply made her too shy.
She was completely different from the fierce girl she had been a moment ago.
Sure enough.
A girl's blush surpassed every love word in the world.
After quite a while, she finally muttered softly, "Sister Reina said boys all liked this sort of thing—I thought Mizu would like it too."
Sahara Mizu fell silent for a moment, then confessed as though repenting.
"Sorry."
"Actually, I'm more of a short skirts and stockings kind of guy."
"Hey!"
"What ninja wears a short skirt?"
Miss Yayoi lightly punched him in annoyance. Her little face was still somewhat tense, pretending to be angry, but the corners of her lips curled up without her noticing.
The possessiveness someone she liked revealed unintentionally always made her feel so satisfied.
Sahara Mizu smiled as well, saying nothing more as he lowered his head and continued reading the Basics of Fuinjutsu in his hands.
Over the past few days, he had been shuttling between home, Tsunade's house, and the training ground in a three-point routine. Like a dried-out sponge, he absorbed every bit of information related to Sealing Jutsu that he could.
Thanks to the Six Eyes and the brain development brought about by the "Limitless Technique: Second Stage," his learning ability was now several times stronger than before. When it came to foundational material, he was practically unstoppable.
Aside from a small number of relatively difficult sealing script combinations, he had already thoroughly grasped most of this basic scroll.
However, since Tsunade had either been organizing documents at Konoha Hospital or attending meetings at the Hokage Building these past few days, he could only study the remaining difficult points by himself, and his progress had been quite slow.
Still, he had gained at least a slight clue about breaking the Fuinjutsu on his tongue.
Besides that—
Sahara Mizu lowered his eyes to the scroll.
Within his three-hundred-and-sixty-degree field of vision, he glanced at the girl beside him.
Miss Yayoi was still swaying around carefreely. It seemed that as long as she was by his side, she completely put down the heavy burden of being a cold and aloof girl.
During this time, Mr. Sahara had always paid close attention to Miss Yayoi's mental health.
The possessiveness he displayed toward her was naturally intentional as well.
After all, she was unlike his yandere little sister and Mature Honey Princess Tsunade, whose difficulty settings were comparatively simple.
With those two, even if he took the worst possible path, at most he would die. The worst part would be getting stabbed a few extra times before he died.
But Miss Yayoi was different.
If he took a wrong turn, or suddenly disappeared, who knew what kind of Mangekyō Sharingan ability Uchiha Yayoi might awaken?
Something like "a room you can't leave until you fuck yourself to death," "a dream-stealing space with only the two of us," or "a gravity-warping world that can drag you back no matter where you are."
Die?
In your dreams!
In any case, Sahara Mizu felt that he could not afford to gamble.
"Mizu, did Lord Sakumo tell you why he asked us to come over?"
After pretending to be angry for only a little while, Miss Yayoi could not resist speaking again. With both hands behind her back, she asked, "A team made entirely of Jonin usually can't be put together, right?"
"It's probably an issue at the Land of Wind front."
Sahara Mizu was fairly sensitive to intelligence. "Sunagakure and Iwagakure have gradually withdrawn from the Land of Rain. Both sides have freed up their hands, which is undoubtedly bad news for us."
"Who knows when this war will end."
"Who knows."
Uchiha Yayoi muttered. She inadvertently glanced at the young man's profile and sighed softly.
If only there could be more peaceful times like this with Mizu.
Even if she could only watch him from beside him.
Girls in their first love were conservative and cautious even when making wishes. It was as if wishes that were too extravagant would make even their own hearts race beyond what they could bear.
So, just a little more would be enough.
Just as she thought this, Sahara Mizu suddenly grabbed her arm.
"Slow down."
"Whoosh—"
The words had barely left his mouth when a kunai streaked across not far in front of them. A white figure and a yellow figure crossed at blinding speed, fighting at a pace too fast for ordinary eyes to follow.
Uchiha Yayoi instinctively stopped.
Only then did she realize that, without noticing, the two of them had already reached the Third Training Ground where their team had agreed to meet.
Hatake Sakumo and Namikaze Minato had likely arrived long ago and were taking advantage of the empty grounds to warm up.
Clang!
Clang—
The sound of metal colliding rang continuously through the empty woodland, with faint sparks occasionally flashing through the air.
The footprints left on the ground, tree trunks, and branches were deep and powerful, and every so often they could hear one or two dull impacts from close combat.
However, although both were Jonin and both were genius ninjas acknowledged by the Third Hokage, Namikaze Minato was still far too young before Hatake Sakumo.
After just over three minutes, Minato, who was about to use Wind Release Body Flicker to charge headlong into a wire trap laid among the branches, was kicked down from the tree by Hatake Sakumo.
Thud.
He landed on the ground in a somewhat sorry state.
"Whew, whew..."
He panted heavily.
When he turned his head, he suddenly noticed Sahara Mizu and Uchiha Yayoi standing at the edge of the field. Somewhat embarrassed, he raised a hand and greeted them.
"Hi?"
"Oh, you're already here."
"Come sit."
Hatake Sakumo also dropped down from the tree, reaching out to pull Minato up from the ground.
In the realm of high-speed combat, fifteen-year-old Minato was still a kid before him.
However, Minato possessed the talent and potential to surpass him in this field, and he was not suited to his teacher Jiraiya's Ninjutsu Type fighting style.
Whenever he had spare time, he could not help wanting to teach the kid a little more.
After calling the two over, Hatake Sakumo found himself a tree stump, dusted it off, and sat down. He casually pulled an apple from his pocket—who knew when he had picked it—and took a large bite. Chewing as he spoke, he said:
"There's something I need to discuss and get your opinions on."
(Uchiha Yayoi · Hair in a bun ↑)
Thanks to readers SAGIO, 20210725173827439, Tianmei_Shegu, Kamisato_Ayaka's Dog, Pinggu Yidian Ying, Zhainiao-chan, Boluoboluo-da, and 00r for their monthly votes!
I definitely won't be able to finish the next chapter before 1 o'clock. I'll make it up tomorrow.
I have work tomorrow. Good night, everyone~(∠▽<)⌒☆
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